Plug-and-play forum launches smart grid group

SAN JOSE, Calif.  The Universal Plug and Play Forum has set up a smart grid task force aiming to set standards for how home networked devices monitor and manage electricity consumption. The group focused mainly on home networking issues will also promote UPnP technology as a part of emerging smart grid standards worldwide.

The news comes at a time when engineers are pouring over two 100-page reports on smart grid standards released in late September by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST issued a report on cyber-security for smart grids as well as a first draft of its framework and roadmap for smart grid interoperability standards.

The framework lists nearly 80 existing standards that can be used for smart grids now and setting up 14 groups to define by the end of 2010 standards in missing areas. The new efforts will address areas such as adapting Internet Protocol and wireless networks for electric grids as well as writing profiles for smart meters.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers is also closely tracking the implication of smart grids for home networks. The group's president, Joe McGuire, said his members are most interested to participate in new work organized by NIST to define energy pricing models and demand/response signaling.

The UPnP news on smart grids came as the group celebrated its tenth anniversary. The group has as many as 880 members and has certified more than 3,000 products, 124 of them in the year to date.

In addition to its new work on smart gr4ids, the UPnP also announced plans to update its audio-visual device control protocols and publish new specifications for remote access, device protection, device management and telephony control to serve emerging user scenarios. The forum will also update its Internet Gateway Device protocol to include support for IPv6.